Chronicles of Sean 2: The Complication
by NateSean
Summary: Bryce, Sean's Chee ally, has infiltrated Visser Six's ranks by becoming a voluntary controller.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The beaches around the lake were starting to fill in as early as nine in the morning. As hot as it was, who could blame them? Windsor Lake is probably the most attractive body of water in Massachusetts next to the Atlantic Ocean. Sitting almost literally on top of North Adams, and just a few miles from a part of the Mohawk Trail it's surrounded by forest and campground.

Lifeguards are good about keeping people from drowning. That is, when you're drowning on the side of the lake with the public beaches. The private parts of the lake, like the dock I had just jumped head first from were another matter entirely.

It started about two hours ago. My Aunt Susan and Uncle Ray were renting a cabin and my school's spring break happened to be the same time as my cousins, Jamie and Alex so they invited me to spend the break with them. I'd rather chew on tacks than deal with my cousins, but Dad had to interview some people for his article on abandoned buildings in Southern Vermont. More on that later.

As usual, I was up before everyone else. So after I ate and used the bathroom, I decided to take a walk.

The air was crisp. The sun hadn't broken through the trees yet, so the forest air was fresh and the ground had a natural chill to it. I actually enjoyed this part of the trip, but if I could take the forest and drop my cousins that would make it sweeter.

I took a brief walk along the road that wound through the forest, passing lean-tos and cabins. Some of the campers were all ready up and ready for the day. Smoke from the grills and fireplaces filled the air with the smell of burning wood, kerosene, and cooking bread and sausage.

My stomach started to grumble, so I returned to the cabin, only to realize everyone was still asleep. Maybe I'm weird, but why would you spend money to rent a cabin near the lake if you're only going to sleep all day? For a whole week, you could save yourself a hundred and eighty dollars by just staying home.

Frustrated, I grabbed some change from my wallet and stared out for the main beach. It was a good mile hike, but there were vending machines in the picnic areas and soda is strangely comforting when you're hungry and you don't want to wake anyone up looking for food. Besides, it was a nice morning and it was only going to get hotter. The walk would give me time to think.

For about an hour, that's what I did. Walking along the trail, taking deep breaths as the fresh air blew in off the lake I tried to clear my mind of the last few weeks.

_And while I'm trying to do things I'll never accomplish_, I thought, looking out to the lake. _I think I'll get started on that walking on water thing_.

Oddly enough I couldn't walk on water, but I could breathe under it. Eventually. It's on my list of things to do. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

There was a group of boys along the path. Two of them were probably nine or eight, but the oldest two were definitely about my age, give or take a year. The youngest one, a blond haired kid was holding onto something that I couldn't see very well. As I got closer I heard them talking.

"I found it on a rock." Blondie said, holding it up to one of the older kids.

"We should see if Mom will let us take it home." The other young one said a red head.

I slowed down a bit and recognized what they were holding. It was a frog.

"Come, on, we'll take it with us." One of the older kids, a tall kid with a heavy tan and curly dark hair emptied a bag of Dorritos onto the ground and held it open.

I watched in horror and disgust as they put the frog in there. I could see its arms flailing against the plastic as the moron closed the bag around it, "So it wouldn't get out."

"Excuse me," I said, before I could even think about it. They all turned to me. "What are you doing?"

"We're taking this frog with us." Tan answered. Him and the fourth kid, a guy with bleach blond hair and pasty white eyebrows exchanged glances and gave me a once over. "You got a problem with that?"

_Not at all_, was what a sensible kid who didn't want his ass kicked would say. Actually, a kid who was afraid of being beaten up wouldn't have said anything and probably would have just kept walking. Like every other prick that walked on while I got bullied.

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound authoritative. "It's illegal to take animals out of the park. There's park rangers all over here."

Somehow that failed to impress them. Eyebrows and Tan busted out laughing.

"Mind your own business," Tan said, flipping me off.

He handed the bag to one of the little ones, who were still laughing when the big kids stopped. And that's when I had my whole plan laid out. Well, calling it a plan would be giving it too much credit. I dived for the bag and yanked it out of the kid's hand.

And that's how I spent much of the morning running from the two older kids, who were way older and faster than their little brothers/cousins/whatever the hell they all were to each other.

The frog was nestled in my hand and I ditched the bag. A dark green with bits of brown along the back, it looked the kind of frog you could buy in a pet store. Most animals in this situation would be trying pretty hard to get out of my hand. As is, this frog was alive, but strangely calm.

"I'm going to kick your ass you little freak!" Tan shouted.

I took a turn and ran down towards the lake. There was a dock lined with fishing boats and I headed for it. The beach was still empty, except for the two jerks chasing me.

"Get back here, punk!"

I ran to the end of the dock and paused only long enough to drop the frog into the lake. Then I dove in, headfirst. And it didn't occur to me until I hit the water that I can't swim. I hit the bottom of the water and began to choke. Then I pushed and managed to break the surface, gasping for air as I flailed. Tan and Eyebrows were at the end of the dock and they continued to laughed and point at me as I flailed about. Because that's what you do when you see someone drowning. You point and you laugh.

That's okay though. I took as deep a breath as I could before slipping under again. The frog I had saved flitted past me and that's what I focused on.

I don't know how to explain it. But my hands were the first things to change. I knew I needed to get away from the dock so that the kids wouldn't see me and the hands and feet started becoming flatter. My shoes and socks slipped off and fell to the bottom. The water magnified the sound of the bones crunching and the flesh and skin changing consistency. But as soon as I had the webbed feet and hands of a frog, I kicked.

There was no way to know what kind of progress I was making of course. The lake was kind of murky at this level. My eyes moved a few inches apart and a kind of translucent covering stretched over them as they shrank and turned black. Then they seemed to "lift" as my forehead shrank back. I couldn't see any better, but the water was more comfortable to my eyes. I pushed up towards the surface that began to glisten as the rays of sun touched it.

I was far enough into the morph that my vision basically sucked. I couldn't see the dock, or tell how far I had swum away from it.

"Where did he go?" Someone asked.

There was a familiar stretching sensation as my skin became tighter. Suddenly the coldness of the water wasn't an issue as the frog's smooth, tight, green and brown skin replaced my hair covered human flesh. I took a deep breath, only to find that my human lungs were shrinking to support a frog's body and that I didn't need to breath as much.

The first time I morphed, my lungs and heart were the first things to change. It was a disturbing experience that I will never forget for as long as I live. Yes, even more disturbing than the fact that I was becoming an animal that I had once seen lying face up in a pan, held down spread eagle with party lancets, and having its guts removed slowly by my classmates.

My face twisted and became flatter as it shrank as my chin bone shrank away, leaving the skin loose as it shrunk. My nose seemed to melt away, leaving behind two nostrils that sat just at the top. My arms and legs shrank and the bones became thinner. My clothes billowed around be, becoming large tents as I became smaller. When I kicked my way out of them I swam further and faster. But as the morph finished up, with the last of my hair disappearing, I didn't have much time to think before the frog instincts kicked in.

I was in water! Deep dark water! Crap!

In a panic, I swam for what I hoped was shore. But because there were no familiar colors, or scents, the frog wasn't sure where that was. All it knew was the water was dark and incredibly murky. There were noises that made it uncomfortable because dark, noisy water could only mean one thing. Predators!

"I don't see him."

"Maybe we should go tell grandpa!"

"No way, they'll think we threw him in there. Let's get out of here!"

Sounds of impact from above. It made the frog want to swim away. Something passed below me.

What was that! I stopped kicking and floated above the water. It passed by me again. I could make out a large dark shape as it circled around and came back for me.

_Oh crap_, I thought. _It's a fish._

Now my own instincts took over. I realized the impact above me was the two ****s running from the docks. I swam to the safety of the rocks. Not an easy thing to do as the wind picked up, causing the water to sway and bob.

Frogs aren't deep water swimmers, it seems. They need to be near land where they can escape predators like large fish. And this was the part of the plan I didn't have. All that mattered to me was being able to save some stupid frog from a bunch of brats.

The fish overtook me. I felt the scrape of its teeth and then, darkness. Frick this thing was huge! The frog mind panicked in the tiny space and I kicked and fought.

_Morph out!_ I thought.

My size returned quickly. Though my body met resistance, the innards of the fish wasn't nearly strong enough to resist a growing kid. If my clothes made of cotton and wool couldn't do it, there was no way Monstro here could stand a chance.

There was violent movement as the fish twisted and writhed. Feeling a bit like the Alien, I burst out of the fish, pushing my way free of the bones and the flesh. To my relief I felt the bottom of the lake as my feet returned. And when I stood up I saw that I was further down from the dock, but that I hadn't gone much further.

Oh yeah…and I was thankful to discover that my red boxer briefs held up in the morph. Add that to the list of clothes I can wear to a morph. Although the wetsuit Paul gave me leaves a bit more to the imagination.

My shoes, pants and shirt were gone. And so was the money I was going to buy a soda with. But that didn't bother me as much as it would bother others. I walked onto the beach and looked around. I could see more people on the far north side of the lake and there were some kayakers that were getting closer.

I doubted they had seen me morphing and even if they saw me now, the worse they could think was that I was confident enough in my body to wear boxer briefs instead of genuine swim trunks. Nothing says confident like a guy who's so lanky he could double for a coat rack, trying to keep cotton underwear from giving into the weight of the water that dripped from them.

Oh well. Frog isn't the only animal I can become. For two hours at a time I can become any animal I want to, just by touching it and acquiring its DNA. Thanks to one fateful side trip through a construction site where I gallantly evaded capture by tripping on something and falling on a piece of alien technology.

When I was a good distance into the cover of the trees, I started another morph. Tan and Eyebrows seemed to be about my size. And I've yet to meet a dog that didn't want to bring its faithful master his shoes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Cheenet Transmission between Bryce Treet and Erek King._

_Erek: How does it feel?_

_Bryce: Strange. I feel terrible for the organic lifeforms who have to go through this._

_Erek: Are you learning anything from it?_

_Bryce: No. It's too young to know much, but it wants to please Visser Six._

_Erek: Make sure you create the sensation of the pool like I showed you, so that it doesn't panic._

_Bryce: I am. As far as its concerned it never left the pool. And Sestran 334 was none the wiser._

_Erek: Let's be grateful for your assignment. Are you meeting Sean soon?_

_Bryce: I am but…I want to tell him about the others. I know what we agreed on, but…what if he has to run? They may be able to protect him better than we can._

• * *

This family is a black bear's day dream. Scraps of food were all over the camp site and near the fireplace, and a cooler full of stuff sat on a picnic table, wide open and full of wonderful, enticing smells. And best yet, everything was unguarded while the two younger brats played their Gameboys in the leanto and the man I assumed was their grandfather drank a beer and had his head buried into some headphones.

Alas, I was not in a bear morph. Although there were black bears and mountain lions in certain parts of Vermont and Massachusetts, I had no idea where to go about looking. And the risk of trying to get my hands on one outweighed the potential of getting to become one, so I was stuck with whatever animals I could get a hold of.

Fortunately there was no shortage of dogs available to me at any given time. I had spent the last few weeks experimenting with different breeds.

For tracking people like my Dad and Reverend Mosely, you couldn't do better than the classic bloodhound. I also have my Rottweiler morph, but after a harrowing showdown with the Yeerks in the basement of a church (where I lay helpless and hurt) I had to stop using that dog when the newspaper ran an article about a rabid stray running loose along Harwood Hill.

So for muscle I picked up a Saint Bernard and a Great Dane. I went with the Great Dane because of its size and because I wanted to save my first time with the Saint Bernard for winter.

I followed Tan and Eyebrow's scent back along the path they had chased me down. No one picked up the Dorritos bag I had dropped, so I stopped and sniffed it. The smell of the frog still lingered there, but it was the scent of the two younger brats that helped me find their campsite. Apparently grampy could afford to spring for two campsites, because as it happened, the older kids' scents lead to the next lean-to. Sure enough this campsite was just as trashed as the other one.

Silently and quickly, I hoisted my heavy frame into the lean-to and began sniffing the sleeping bags and the clothes, looking for something that didn't smell like sweaty jock. Good god, what did these guys do in here?

My ears perked up. A dog's sight varies, but most breeds make up for it with an excellent sense of hearing. Someone was approaching the path to the lean-tos and though I could catch the smell of soap and shampoo, it was unmistakably them.

"I still think we should tell someone," the familiar voice of Eyebrow whispered.

"If you want to go to jail then go ahead," Tan countered. "But don't drag me down with you."

Thinking quickly, I moved to the back of the lean-to as quietly as possible. Not an easy feat when a Great Dane is about the size of a grown man, give or take an inch. Even when I lowered myself to the ground and tried to make myself smaller, I knew I would only have one chance to do what I was planning.

"Did you hear that?"

I heard Tan scoff. "Maybe it's that kid. He could be like Jason, waiting for us with a machete."

"That's not funny."

I didn't find it particularly funny either. Eyebrows was off the hook. Tan was mine.

The boys came to the mouth of the lean-to and threw their used towels and clothes on the floor. Tan had his shoes in one hand. Neither of them noticed me as they sat down to pull their shoes on.

_Drop them_. I said, directing my thought-speak so that only these two could hear.

Tan stopped and looked around.

"Did you say something?" He asked.

Eyebrows was also looking for the sound of the "voice". That's when I leapt up.

_I said drop them!_ I said, raising my tone and throwing in a growl.

Tan and Eyebrows saw me this time and they fell out of the lean-to. Carefully, so I wouldn't hurt him, I jumped on Tan.

"Grandpa!" Eyebrows screamed.

_Stay where you are_, I warned Eyebrows. I was very careful to make sure that only they could hear my voice.

I looked into Tan's eyes as he tried to force me off with his hands. But the Great Dane had a good forty pounds on him and it was like trying to move a sack of cement.

_The next time you chase someone into the water and you don't have the decency to check if they're all right, I'll visit you in the middle of the night_. As I spoke, Tan quieted down and looked at me in horror.

"I'm sorry!" he cried.

_Now give me the shoes_, I said, with a growl.

"Hey!" It was the grandfather. The smell of alcohol was strong even a few feet away. He was no match for me, but I had all ready drawn enough attention.

"What do you want my shoes for?" Tan demanded.

_Tribute_, I said. _For encouraging small children to harm an innocent creature in the forest and then having the gall to try to hurt the one who saved it. I'll have your shoes, or I'll have your head._

For emphasis, I made a biting motion for his neck. Tan seemed to get it. "TAKE MY SHOES, PLEASE!"

I grabbed the shoes in my teeth and bolted for the woods. Granpa had taken the time to find a baseball bat, but he was so slow in getting to the kids that I could have taken my sweet time.

With the shoes in my mouth, I tore through the forest and then onto the path, heading back to my aunt and uncle's cabin. The dog's instincts were overjoyed at the prospect of the run and I was ecstatic that my plan worked. Just seeing the look on Tan's face was worth it.

Seriously, this is why I hate people like Spiderman. They whine and moan when they get superpowers and the rest of us have to suffer. What I just did may have been wrong, but hey, if you're going to have the power to turn into animals, why not be grateful that you of all people were given the power and use it to your advantage once in a while?

• * *

Jamie just turned ten, and in light of her budding adolescence, she had her own room. I shared a bunkbed with seven year-old Alex who was up watching Power Rangers and eating a bowl of Kix. Aunt Susan was in the kitchen cooking bacon on the stove. Jamie and Uncle Ray were nowhere to be found, so they were either in their rooms or down at the shower stalls.

With my new shoes covering my boxers, I bolted across the living room to the bedroom.

"Is that you, Sean?" Susan called.

I closed the door enough to cover my body and stuck my head out.

"Yup, it's me," I said

"Did you go for a swim?"

My boxers were dry now. An advantage of the morphing, I assumed, since water doesn't exactly have DNA. She must have seen me as I walked into the room.

"Yeah," I said, sheepishly. "But some kids found my clothes and ran with them. I don't know where they tossed them."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you have an extra outfit and everything?"

"Yes, thankfully," I said, looking down at the shoes. "I got a second pair of shoes too."

I quickly dressed and tried the shoes on. They were tighter than my own, but they would have to do until I could get some new ones. I sure as hell couldn't tell Dad how I lost the other pair. With a sigh, I went into the living room and sat down next to Alex to watch Power Rangers.

"This is the one where Kimberly loses her powers," Alex informed me.

"Huh. That's not good," I said, noncommittally.

"Nope. It's very bad."

As the Pink Ranger suffered in agony over having her powers drained, I wondered idly if Bryce's little brother was allowed to watch shows like this? At that thought, I remembered that I was supposed to meet Bryce in town.

"Bacon's ready," Aunt Susan announced.

I dutifully waited for the commercial. Then me and Alex both got up, just in time for Jamie and Uncle Ray to get in. Jaime was carrying a towel in one hand and her hair was still wet from the shower. Uncle Ray had apparently been running as he was sweating worse than Tan and Eyebrows.

"Morning Sean," Ray said. "You were out of here early."

I shrugged as I grabbed a couple pieces of bacon.

"I just went for a walk," I remembered what I told Susan and added, "Then for a swim."

"To be continued! Oh man," Alex whined.

_If only we were all so lucky_, I thought.

"So Sean," Susan said. "We were planning to see a movie today. Did you want to come with us?"

"Yeah, come with us," Alex said, excitedly.

"What are you going to see?" I asked, with a half-smile.

"_The Emperor's New Groove_," Jaime chimed in, rolling her eyes as she said it. "I still want to see that Keanu Reeves movie."

I actually wouldn't have minded seeing _Emperor's New Groove_. Jaime was at the age when cartoon movies were supposed to be for babies. And I was probably at that age too, only I could care less what anyone thought of me watching it. On the other hand, I was supposed to meet Bryce in town.

Aunt Susan must have sensed my hesitation.

"Now this is your vacation too, Sean," she pointed out. "If you want to hang out in town while we go to the movie, that's fine."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's your vacation too." She repeated with a nod.

Jaime could have cared less, of course. But it was the look in Alex's eye that clinched it for me. I suddenly remembered being his age and looking up to the older cousins who wanted nothing to do with me. I sighed. Bryce could wait. It wasn't like he was going to die of old age.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - Bryce

_From The Chee Programming Code_

_Chee Are Brothers and Sisters. Their True Feelings Shall Be Known Always._

My name is Bryce. Or it's my name for however long this lifetime lasts. Once, during the Great Depression, I was twelve year-old Thomas Baker and I worked in a coal mine in Arkansas. There was a cave in and though I survived, a human being that age could not without a satisfying explanation. And I didn't have one.

My real name, the one given to me by my creators and masters, is Chee Ikos. Chee means "friend" and "Ikos" is the pale gray sea near the home of my master, Sanje. Thousands of years ago, Sanje, like the rest of the Pemalite race, was violently killed by the Howlers for no other reason than for their own amusement.

The Chee survived the genocide and together, we relocated to Earth and combined the essence of our masters with wolves. Whenever you throw a Frisbee to your dog and he catches it with pure enthusiasm, or whenever she runs up to you and licks your face after you've been gone all day, that is the spirit of our Pemalite masters.

I held back a sigh. Not a terribly impressive feat, since we don't breathe. We do feel emotions, which are transmitted to the holographic projector, so that our disguise can properly convey the feeling to whomever we may be interacting with at the time. And at the moment, there were two people I wanted to heave that annoyed sigh towards.

The first one was Erek. Not that Erek needed to see me to know that I was frustrated with him. Erek is also a Chee and is connected to me and every other Chee through an internal network. According to the rules set by our programmers, no Chee can hide his true feelings from another Chee, no matter how disagreeable they may seem.

Erek was also one of the first Chee to get involved in infiltrating the Yeerks; a race of parasitic slugs who are determined to make Earth their latest trophy in a long half-century of conquering and infesting races.

Until a few short weeks ago, there was nothing standing between the Yeerks and conquest. As Chee, we are programmed to never take any action that would lead to the harm of a living being, no matter how evil. When the Andalites came to try to usurp the Yeerks foothold here, we could not interfere or assist them, even though some of us desperately wanted to.

Then, an Andalite prince named Elfangor managed to crash land at a construction site that five humans just happened to be using as a shortcut. Erek wasn't there, but another Chee named John witnessed the violent death of Elfangor at the hands of Visser Three, the only Andalite-Controller in the Yeerk Empire.

It was through John and Erek that the rest of us learned that Elfangor had given those humans the power to morph. Among them, was an old friend of Erek's named Marco. Marco, coincidentally, was the son of a high ranking Yeerk's host body. Because of this, it reinforced Erek's belief that the Ellimist had somehow arranged for them to be in the construction site on that night.

The very next day, Sean accidentally discovered the morphing technology in the place where Elfangor died. Sean's dad had been captured and was being forcibly infested by a Yeerk named Kullan 926. And because I knew that he would be in danger, I asked Erek to teach Sean how to morph. Based on what we knew about the technology, Erek was able to teach Sean how to use his new power. He also told him about the invasion of the Yeerks and what he knew about his father's infestation. But he didn't tell Sean about the others.

Sean thinks the word Animorph was my idea. It was actually coined by Marco, who combined the word animal and morph together to explain what they were. Erek overheard it and it gave me one more thing to lie to Sean about. He also thinks that he is the only person to discover the morphing ability and by default is the only person who can fight the Yeerks.

_I understand your feelings,_ Erek said. _Do you know much I wish to tell Marco that his mother is alive?_

This time I did sigh. Sighing in public isn't considered weird, unless you're trying to passively manipulate someone. There was no way I could manipulate Erek and none of the humans I passed on the street took notice of me.

_Of course I know,_ I replied, mildly frustrated. _You feel responsible because you were there at the marina and you could have stopped Visser One from leaving. We know all of this Erek. But that's not the same thing and we both know it._

A debate erupted among the Chee who were listening in on our discussion. I tuned it out. Our programming said we couldn't hide anything from each other, not that we had to actively listen to it.

_Please don't be upset with me Bryce,_ Erek said. _I wish things could have been different. I wish Sean could have been in the construction site with them, but then we wouldn't have been able to reveal ourselves to him. And Kullan 926 would likely have had Sean infested long before now, thus removing our ace in the hole if anything happens to Marco and the others. A morph capable host in the hands of an insane Yeerk who is bent on taking Visser Three's position? Because of that, I truly believe the Ellimist chose for this to happen._

The Ellimist is an ancient Pemalite deity. Many cultures believe in one variation of the Ellimist or another and many Chee, including Erek, believe the Ellimist is a being that lives on a higher plane of existence.

_I don't want to debate the Ellimist's role in this again, Erek. If the Ellimist did exist, he wouldn't approve of how Sean just used his morphing power._

Even now, as I was speaking to Erek, and looking through a window at a display of gold watches, I could hear the police dispatcher reporting a dog attack in the campgrounds where Sean's family was staying. No one was hurt. But a pair of shoes went missing. You don't have to be an android built by an advanced civilization to put two and two together, but it certainly helped when the first two was your best friend the other two was a dog you personally helped him acquire.

Erek chuckled. The audacity would have annoyed me, except annoyance was actually not allowed by programming. Frustration could be explained and reasoned with. Annoyance was irrational and therefore couldn't be rationally abated. That's Pemalite logic for you.

_You should see what Tobias and Rachel did just a few weeks ago. He said. If no one is complaining about setting an elephant trying to free a bird then I doubt you'll have much trouble with Sean's episode._

There it was. The frustration that could be explained was back again. How could Erek downplay the importance of an Animorph using a dog to exact revenge on someone, even if the revenge was justified by the human and didn't actually end in physical harm? Emotional damage and the damage this behavior would do to innocent dogs all over New England was more than enough for me.

_Relax my friend,_ Erek said, analyzing my frustration. _Listen, the Animorphs have been really demoralized since Tobias went into hiding. I have five of them to deal with on top of a handful of surviving Andalites that have made it to the area. One of them is in the crashed dome ship under water and the other two don't want to be bothered at all. I'm sorry things are turning out to be more difficult than you planned, but you're the one who asked me to recruit Sean._

Were I human, or any of the other species out there who had developed a dictionary of colorful languages, I would be well within my rights to utter an obscenity or respond with a gesture that the entire CheeNet would witness. As such we could think it but we couldn't do it.

Besides, Erek was right. Whatever my difficulties with Sean were, the California Animorphs were five times that for Erek and the Chee supporting him. Six, when the young Andalite aristh was eventually found.

I muttered something about getting in touch with him and resumed my walk along Main Street. I tuned into the transit bus' radio frequencies and listened for busses passing the movie theater Sean was at. I wasn't sure if he would take the bus, which actually pulled across the street from me, or if his aunt and uncle would drop him off.

_Should I lecture him about the dog incident?_ I wondered. This was, of course, met with a choir of responses from Chee I was neither directly asking nor passively seeking the advice of. Rhetorical questions aren't against our programming, but not voicing our opinions one way or the other is.

_Pain…_

I stopped. My programming was too swift and a look of distress came over me. An elderly lady noticed my look and it made her pause.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked.

I smiled.

"Yes, I'm sorry," I said, politely. "I just remembered I have to meet someone."

Which was half of the truth, but it made the old lady happy and she shuffled on. The full truth was that the Yeerk…the one in my head…had said just said something distressing.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sean_

There's something about a movie that makes you completely forget about the outside world. I don't know if it's the big bin of salty popcorn or the two hours of pure sensory bombardment. But a movie theater really is a place where time and reality have no meaning, even when it's an animated feature.

After nearly peeing myself with laughter (both literally and figuratively as I hate getting up during a movie even with a full bladder) at Kuzko, Ezma and Cronk, I was ready to take on the world. When the warmth of the sun hit my face I felt like everything could be as comically timed as it had been when Ezma and Kuzko tried to order their dishes without cheese, much to the frustration of the press ganged chef, Cronk.

I was so happy that I decided to take the bus into town and I promised Aunt Susan I'd be back at the cabin by dinner. I wasn't sure where Bryce was going to meet me, but I knew that Chee could monitor the radio chatter between the busses and would no doubt be waiting near the bus stop to greet me.

For all I knew the bus driver was a Chee. It's not like they all greeted me with a special handshake or anything, but I had met quite a few in Vermont, and some from New York and New Hampshire as well. So it stood to reason that there could be Chee in Massechusetts as well.

There were probably a few holed up wherever they parked the spaceship that brought them here. I always imagined the Chee spaceship to be something like the ship the Tomorrow People escaped to when they needed to sort out their internal issues. If only I could teleport like the Tomorrow People, this invasion would be over.

The bus hit a few potholes and a familiar nausea settled into my stomach. As I watched a crow fly overhead, I mentally berated myself for not having Bryce meet me in the mountains where I could fly. Then I remembered how hard it was for the seagull morph to handle hills and areas away from water and I withdrew my internal argument.

A better bird morph was definitely on my list. That and something big and preferably with sharp teeth, something that could handle the Hork-Bajir more convincingly than an attack dog. I shuttered with the memory of the Hork-Bajir's claws slicing my arm clear off. Reflexively, I rubbed my wrist and hand, thankful that my human body wasn't affected by damage done in morph.

I had no doubt that Bryce knew what I did in the park. Animal control was probably all over the park looking for an insane Great Dane. And I knew without even seeing him that Bryce was upset because of what I did with a dog morph. On some level I agreed. It's not like the cops would know one dog from another, or that the dog could speak up for itself.

But on that same token, I didn't shed any blood and half of the story those brats told would be severely suspect by the fact that it would sound like a pot induced hallucination.

"Well you see officer the dog demanded my shoes because my little brothers were trying to hurt this frog, which is protected by wildlife conservation laws by the way. Oh and we chased the kid that tried to stop us from breaking said law into the lake and didn't bother to call for help when it seemed like the kid was drowning."

Yeah. Either they would lose the cops at the part where the dog spoke to them, or they would talk themselves into an attempted murder charge. Or at the very least a lengthy visit to a psychiatric ward. Either way the dog and me will be off the hook by sundown and it still won't change the fact that I'm the only person out of the thousands who know about the Yeerks with the power to do anything about it.

When Bryce gets a little blood on his hands after tearing into the flesh of an alien that looks like a reject from Mortal Kombat, then we'll talk.

The bus stopped at the K-mart plaza in the center of North Adams. When I got off, I saw Bryce. My height with dark hair and freckles that I could see from all the way over here, Bryce looked like an average All American kid just wasting his week vacation hanging out on Main Street. He wore light tan jeans and a long-sleeved green t-shirt. Or at least that was what his holographic image was made to look like.

As I crossed the road, I also noticed Bryce putting a hand to his head and wincing. That didn't look good.

"Are you okay?" I asked when I was close enough.

Bryce shook his head and looked up at me. He smiled, but something seemed off about it, like when you're suffering through a bad headache but you still want to be polite.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "How was the movie?"

"It was awesome," I said, unable to get the concern out of my face. The Chee are practically invincible, so there was only one thing that could be bothering Bryce enough that it made him appear to be suffering "How's Junior?"

Junior, of course, was the pet name I came up with for the Yeerk that Bryce had willingly taken into his head. It happened yesterday, while I was still here in North Adams.

"He's doing all right," Bryce said. "Erek has been telling me what to do to keep him alive and happy."

Bryce seemed to shake off whatever was bothering him. I tried to push my concern aside, but it was hard, knowing the Chee's inability to do a heck of a lot that was helpful to me. We went to Burger King for lunch, but it was so packed with kids that we decided to bring our lunch to Heritage Park.

"The lock in was brilliant," Bryce said. We found a nice bench in the shade and sat down. "I got there on Friday and there were forty other people. Families with kids. It seemed so normal at first, with board games and flashlight tag. Then the,"- Bryce put his hands up to make air quotes with his fingers, -"Baptism started."

I nodded. My dad's Yeerk had a trusted lieutenant named Sestran. In the host body of a well known religious figure in my home town, Sestran has been using various churches and religious services to quietly obtain hosts for Kullan's movement against Visser Three.

Visser Three, the leader of the invasion of Earth, uses a similar method in the California area known as The Sharing. Like the church groups, the Sharing is basically a front that attracts people with big and attractive events like cook outs and beach parties. People are then offered the chance to become voluntary hosts to the Yeerks.

So far Kullan has been pretty quiet about it though. My dad is a successful investigative journalist and because of that, he has many valuable contacts that Kullan 926 has been using to get access to abandoned churches and other useful buildings in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. The worse part of it was that Kullan wasn't working for Visser Three.

Kullan 926 was either one of two things. A rogue Visser with plans to take over the entire Yeerk Empire. Or a crazy underling…with plans to take over the Yeerk Empire. Either way he was putting my dad and countless innocent humans at risk by trying to build his own personal army.

"So what have you learned so far?" I asked, after telling him about the incident in the woods.

"Nothing much," Bryce said, admittedly. "I was infested yesterday. Sestran was very specific that I needed to keep an eye on you. If you start acting oddly or you start becoming a risk to Kullan, I'm to drag you to the nearest Yeerk pool and have you infested."

I snorted.

"And I've gone a whole month without giving Kullan a reason to suspect me," I said. "I'm flattered."

"Don't be," Bryce said with a frown. "Your little stunt with the dog in the woods…you remember the news article your dad wrote, right?"

Now how did I know this subject was going to come up? But Bryce was right. Kullan was smart, using my dad's journalistic integrity to alert the community about a rabid dog attack on the "good" reverend Mosely.

"So Kullan might think there's another Andalite running loose in Massachusetts as well as Vermont," I pointed out. "We know there are Andalites somewhere in California. Maybe Kullan will get paranoid and this will actually keep him quiet enough to avoid attracting Visser Three's attention."

"Or, or," Bryce cut in, sounding irritated. "Dogs will start getting put to sleep for no reason. You know we can't hide every single dog on the face of the Earth, they have to come up for air eventually."

I sighed and pulled an onion ring out of the bag.

"I'm sorry," I said, munching. "Look, I'm under a lot of stress here. I'm sorry if I put innocent dogs in danger Bryce, but I didn't exactly see you volunteering to help me out in the woods. Where was the Chee hologram of the Park ranger trying to save an innocent frog? Or trying to keep me from nearly killing myself getting away from those pricks?"

"The frog?" Bryce rolled his eyes. "Are you telling me you would have saved it without knowing you could morph it?"

"Morphing was a perk," I pointed out. "But I saved your shiny gray ass once too you know. And that was before I knew about Yeerks, Chee, or the fact that you would have been better off if the bullies had just hit you."

Bryce laughed. We both had a chuckle at the memory of how Erek revealed himself to me. Then Bryce's attitude changed as his skin suddenly went pale.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Bryce seemed grabbed his stomach. I didn't think he could get sick, what with having no organs, but that seemed to be what was happening. Not knowing what else to do, I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I…." Bryce stared at me blankly. "The Yeerk…"

Paranoid, I looked around to see if anyone was near us. A jogger, a woman dressed in bright clothing, stopped and give Bryce a concerned once-over. "Is he okay?"

"Burger King," I said quickly, holding up the bag. "I think he had an undercooked burger"

The woman nodded, wrinkling her nose. "There's a bathroom in the museum there."

She pointed to the building at the end of the park. Not wanting to draw more attention, I helped Bryce to his feet (Which should have earned me an Olympic medal given how heavy he was) and guided him to the building.

"Erek.." Bryce moaned. I knew the other Chee must be aware of what was going on, but it struck me as weird that he would speak out loud to them.

"Don't talk to Erek out loud," I whispered. "Come on, let's get you inside."

My heart raced.

I lead him up the stairs and into the air conditioned building. Before the receptionist could say anything, I asked where the men's room was. Fortunately, when a kid looks like he's going to hurl, no adult who doesn't relish the idea of cleaning it up will ever stand between you and the appropriate place for it.

Once in the safety of the bathroom, I took a step back. Bryce leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Bryce looked up at me with pleading eyes and grabbed his head.

"What is going on?" I said in a low voice, so as not to attract attention.

"The Yeerk…" Bryce began to sob. "The Yeerk is…"

Before he could finish his sentence, the slug started crawling from his ear. I didn't think the Yeerk could escape the head of a Chee. But as I watched the tiny little thing fall onto Bryce's shoulder and then slide onto the floor, I noticed it beginning to…dissolve.

"Oh man," I crouched down for a better look, completely horrified by what I was seeing. Then Bryce said three words that will forever haunt me.

"I killed it."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - Bryce

_What happened?_

_How did this happen?_

_Chee Ikos, what did you do?_

_-the implications of this-_

_EVERYONE BE QUIET PLEASE!_ I had snapped. I had yelled at my fellow Chee and I was so confused that I didn't know if I was frustrated or angry when I did this. Another rule broken and I didn't know how.

Suddenly I began to understand the human sensation of a headache. If my master had given me a stomach, I have no doubt I would also have experienced nausea and vomiting. Every second of the last twenty minutes played out in my memory. Right from the moment the Yeerk began to feel discomfort. I called out to our expert.

_Erek, the Yeerk is feeling pain._

_Are you creating the pool sensation still?_

_Yes! I'm not a child, you know!_

Then, later, in the park, _Why…_

The Yeerk cried out. It tried to writhe free, something none of the other Chee had experienced. So I transmitted the Yeerk's thoughts to the others, to see what advice they offered.

_The nutrient compound is working just fine,_ Chee Sybos said. _And you're using the same psycho-simulation the rest of us are to make the Yeerk think it is in the pool. It should be at peace._

_That doesn't actually help me,_ I pointed out. I realized at that point that I was on the verge of violating my programming of not becoming angry. Only now it appeared that I was violating my programming without even trying, so what difference did it make?

It was at that point that Sean led me to the bathroom. I had to actually fight not to resist him, as my instincts, well, my programming, wanted to stay put and work this out. This complication had only arisen once.

Briefly, the memory of Sanje's death played itself out. Watching him vomit as the Howler landed a short distance away and approached.

"I must protect you," I said. "But I can't hurt the Howler."

"No…" Sanje said, his voice raspy from the tissue degradation in his throat. "You must never harm another living being. No Chee can do this, even if the act is in protection of another."

And so I watched, helplessly as the Howler stood there and taunted my master. Unable to even restrain the horrible creature as it used a whip to open up fresh sores in Sanje's body.

Now, all this time later, I watched helplessly as the Yeerk began to break down. It was what happened to them when they died.

_Let it go,_ was Erek's instruction. I did. But it was too late. The Yeerk was all ready dying.

A few moments later, I sat on the bathroom floor, looking up at Sean. My only human friend.

"I killed it," I said.

The look of terror on Sean's face was so tangible I felt like it could cut through my impenetrable body. A knock came at the door.

"What's going on in there?" A male voice shouted.

Sean waited for the second knock, and then he opened the door.

"My friend is getting sick," he said, simply.

"Well what are you doing in there with him? This is a single person bathroom."

"I just didn't want to leave him alone, in case it got worse," Sean said with an air of authority that I would have believed. "We'll be out in a minute."

Sean closed the door. He knelt down beside me.

"We have to get out of here," he said. "Are you going to be okay?"

The look I gave him was both blank and sickly. It conveyed the feeling of hollowness I felt inside.

"I…just killed… a living being," I said, slowly, as if the words were alien to me. "We're not supposed to kill."

Sean touched my shoulder.

"I know," he said. "And I'm sorry. But we're drawing too much attention."

"Hey," the man outside called. "If you kids aren't out of there by the count of three I'm calling the cops."

Sean rolled his eyes. He tried to lift me up, which was impossible without my consent.

"Come on, Bryce," he pleaded. "You'll put us both in danger."

"One!"

"Go on without me," I said, simply. "Just go."

"I can't just leave you here!"

"Two!"

Sean tugged at my arm. I refused to budge.

"Three. All right, I'm calling the police."

"They won't recognize me," I pointed out. "And they'll have a harder time moving me then you will."

Sean didn't listen. He made another tug before giving up and sitting beside the toilet.

"Fine," He said after a minute. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to stay here and let them arrest us both. Then when the Yeerks decide I'm too big a threat to let go, I'll let them infest me. And then the Chee are screwed."

_He's blackmailing us?_ A Chee from Bangkok said, incredulously.

_No_, Erek replied. _Sean is trying to get Bryce to move. Bryce, listen to him._

I wanted to block them all out. It was against my programming, but, you know what? Killing was the biggest priority here and I had all ready violated that rule. How much-

_Do not block us._ Erek said firmly. _Bryce, we are going to help you. But your priority is to help Sean, remember?_

"I'm not stopping him," I said, out loud so that Sean could hear me.

Sean looked at me, oddly at first. Then he figured it out and came closer, looking into my eyes.

"I need Mr. Treet down here," he said. "If Mr. Treet comes to get Bryce, I'll leave."

_Tell him I hear him,_ The Chee playing my father responded. _I am on my way now._

"He hears you," I said. "Now get out of here."

Sean gave a sly grin. It was a grin that told me I wasn't going to like what he had in mind.

"Who said I was going anywhere?" He asked.

By the time the police arrived, Sean was still in the bathroom with me. Only now, his clothes were in the trash and he was now hiding beneath just beneath the human projection.

In his frog morph, he was as small and as vulnerable as the Yeerk had been.

A very terrifying thought came over me. A thought that I was quick to block from the Chee as I lay there, pretending to be unconscious when the officer kicked in the door. After some confusion, the paramedics arrived and I lowered my weight them when they lifted my body onto the gurney.

_Great, you couldn't do that for me?_ Sean quipped.

But I didn't reply. Not that I could use the thought-speech of the Andalites, or the Animorphs. But even if I had been able to, I doubt that I would have replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six – Sean

The first time around an animal's instincts can overwhelm you. Dogs for example are very playful and they enjoy running around, smelling things, and chasing randomly moving objects. The instinct to bark at other dogs or to sniff complete strangers can be overwhelming. The second time around the instincts are easier to control as you know what to expect.

But this time around it was hard to ignore the frog's panic as the ambulance shook and hit speed bumps. It didn't like the movement, or the fact that it was so dry in this small space. The sensation of Bryce's android body was unusual, and disturbing. The frog preferred soft or moist ground, with plenty of fresh air surrounding it and the cool breeze off of a shaded pond. But I was able to keep the instincts from forcing me to move. The hologram was the only thing keeping us from sight.

Bryce was strapped to a gurney and an emergency medical technician slipped a breathing mask over his mouth. The driver relayed information over the hospital over the radio and asked for instructions about where to take the ambulance as they exited the parking lot.

"White male, possibly twelve or thirteen years old. Apparently a friend helped him into the bathroom and then the kid just collapsed. The police are looking for the other child now."

I tried to remember if I had seen cameras. It was a small museum dealing with local history, not the Smithsonian. The man who had knocked on the door wasn't even a guard as such, but a random volunteer worker. Still, at least two people saw Bryce getting sick and I wasn't exactly incognito, so at least two people could give a reasonable description of me to the police.

_Stuff just keeps piling on, you know,_ I said to Bryce.

Still no response. Not that I wanted him to say anything while we were on our way to the hospital. The Chee can understand thought-speak but they can't use it themselves. But a simple flicker of a finger would have made me happy.

I knew this had to be devastating to him. In the month since I had met them, I never saw a Chee even step on a bug. Bryce was always meticulously careful to avoid even the tiniest ants that happened to be in his path. And he did it with such practice and precision that one time I actually tripped on my own shoelaces watching him avoid them.

When the dogs needed tic or flea removals, the Chee used hypersonic waves to make the arachnids uncomfortable. Then they were rounded up in some kind of force field and taken out of the underground park.

Being with them was like being with an army of android Buddhists.

Granted, I was no big fan of the Yeerks right now. But a Yeerk was still a living creature, capable of feeling pain and fear. From what I understood, Bryce must have been reading its feelings right up to the end.

_It wasn't your fault._ I said a few times. _We'll figure this out._

As the ambulance took a steep road to the hospital, a shadow loomed over me. My hind lings fired and I leapt into the air in time to avoid being squashed by the EMT's arm. I landed near Bryce's feet.

"What the heck?"

"What's wrong?" The driver asked.

"There's a frog on the bed."

The driver snorted.

"I don't suppose the kid was getting high on it."

"Do kids even know about that one yet?" The EMT asked, returning the chuckle.

I thought it was a little insensitive. But as I wasn't in much of a position to say anything, I just stayed where I was and kept quiet. I couldn't see the EMT's face very well. With my size and from where I was sitting, it would be like just waking up beneath the nose of an airbus and trying to make out the lettering on the nose. But I could see his arm clearly as he tried to keep the gurney from shaking too much on the way up.

_Guys, I don't know if you're listening to all of this,_ I said, as the ambulance reached the top. _But we're on our way into the hospital. Bryce is doing a great job pretending to breathe into that thing, but if I remember any of my stays in hospitals correctly, they're probably going to take some blood. You guys don't happen to have a fake reservoir of blood in there for occasions like this do you?_

I had no way of knowing if the others could hear me through Bryce or not. I was careful to make sure only he could hear my thought-speak, and I knew the CheeNet could was able to listen in on it, but I just didn't know if it made any difference. And until now I had never seen a Chee go catatonic on me.

_Bryce listen,_ I said. _If you can snap out of this, I swear I will never use a dog morph to do anything more rash than pooping on someone's lawn. I swear it._

Nothing.

The ambulance finally stopped. As a wave of light flooded the back, I had to fight not to jump out the back.

"What's with the frog?" Someone asked.

"I think it just got caught on the kid's clothes or something. Here, can you take care of it."

There was movement and then a sudden pressure around my body. A smell that reminded me of bacon grease and hand lotion filled my nostrils and drove the frog to panic. I struggled to get free of the hand, but the person was determined to keep a grip on me.

I didn't know how far from the Emergency Room they were taking me. But when they finally set me down, I felt a comfortable breeze and a smell that made the frog happy.

_Water!_ I immediately dived in.

"Well, there you go," someone said.

There was tall grass surrounding this area of the pond and a few colorful flowers. I did a few laps around to calm the frog down. The water felt great on skin and unlike the lake, this was the clear, clean water that the frog's mind preferred. No fish and plenty of dragon flies buzzing overhead.

I crawled onto a rock and looked around. The distance between the rock and the grass looked like jumping across the floor of a small classroom. I leapt again, clearing the distance and landing on the ground gracefully.

_Ninja frog_, I said. Turtles beware.

The grass here was shorter and the sun beat down on me. The frog wanted to go back into the water, but I needed to get back to the hospital. The person who grabbed me couldn't have walked very far, but nine times out of ten, there was a huge parking lot here. I had no idea how exposed I was, so morphing out was risky and I wasn't in the mood to play a real life game of Frogger.

_Decisions, decisions_.

Oh yeah, I also had to get in there to see how much damage Bryce's apparently comatose state was going to cause. Was it an act, or was he seriously beginning to shut down? Did the Pemalites even have a plan in mind in case one of their androids actually killed something? And how did Bryce kill the Yeerk anyhow? According to Erek and the others, he was doing everything right.

I hopped a few more feet. The distance I could jump in this morph distracted me from the less pleasant aspects of this day. When I felt a reasonable amount of privacy I began to morph out.

Halfway there, my eyesight came back and I could see that I was standing beside a man-made pond on next to a paved path. There was nice looking bench with a marker on it stating that this path was donated by some person who was a patient at this hospital years ago. The parking lot stretched beyond that and I could see the back of the hospital along with several smaller buildings that were a part of the campus but not attached, probably offices.

There were no open windows that I could see. And none of my dog morphs were going to get me into the building. If anything a stray dog on the property would cause more problems and frog was the smallest morph I had. Man, I needed to start working on that list.

A quick breeze made me aware of just how exposed I was. My boxers were all that remained of yet another outfit of clothes I had lost so I crouched low and tried to hide behind a small clump of bushes on the other side of the pond.(The Chee were definitely paying me back for the clothes this time.)

_On the other hand_, I thought. _If I get caught out here like this, I will definitely be closer to Bryce than I am now._

I sighed. The only thing to do now was morph seagull and see if I could find a way in.


	7. Chapter 7

There's something very therapeutic about flying. When you're the one in control at any rate. Seeing the world from above helps me put things into perspective and the seagull's single-minded focus on anything edible kept my human mind from racing.

I circled the hospital building a few times. There was one open window without a screen in it, but there was a desk covered with papers and picture frames. The seagull brain noticed the half-eaten Danish someone had left on a napkin. I wasn't getting in there without making some noise.

There was a shed on the rooftop of the east wing of the hospital, but it didn't look like it could open from the outside. There were garbage shoots that emptied into Dumpsters, but even if a seagull could get in there and possibly fly up it, which I doubted, there was no way of knowing where it would lead to or whether the door could simply be pushed open.

Feeling the stress of the situation, I flew over the emergency room entrance and tried to see what was going on down there. The ambulance that brought Bryce was pulling out. I landed on the sidewalk, pretending to be interested in an old French fry and tried to look in. There was a sliding double door that opened once in a while. But I couldn't see anything beyond the desk where a nurse sat and the end of a hallway.

_Give me a sign Bryce,_ I silently pleaded.

It wasn't like I had all the time in the world to do this. Eventually I would have to get back to my aunt and uncle's cabin before they got worried. And eventually I would have to go back home and pray that my Dad, AKA Kullan 926, wasn't having his people watch the police scanners.

Or the hospitals… Oh crap. Bryce was supposed to be a Controller now! He had personal contact with my father and that meant Kullan would want to know why the "yeerk" assigned to watch me was suddenly in the hospital!

I took to the air. There was definitely no time to mess around now. I circled the hospital and looked for that open window again. Someone was sitting at the desk this time, getting ready to take a bite of the Danish. I didn't care.

There was just enough time to fold my wings as my body soared into the window like a guided missile. I slammed head first into the man's chest, catching him off guard as I knocked several of picture frames over.

There was a snapping sensation in my neck as my head struck the body. He got to his feet, startled and I fell to the floor.

"What the hell!" he shouted.

The sound of footsteps and a blur of movement in my eye told me that the guy had left the room. My vision was beginning to fade. I kept my mind focused on morphing out.

"It just flew right in to my office."

More footsteps. The injuries to my neck seemed to melt away as the bone snapped back into place.

"Might be diseased," someone said.

"What's happening to it?"

"I don't know. Lets get a custodian up here."

The room emptied and the doors closed. I felt the carpet rub against my skin, as my body got bigger. The gray and white feathers melted together like wax and disappeared into my human flesh. When my eyesight came back, I began looking around.

It was a small office. The credentials on the wall were from Boston University. The bookshelves were lined with binders and case studies on malpractice suits. I climbed to my feet, still as much aware of my lack of clothing as before.

There was movement and sound outside. People were making phone calls. The door was closed, but I knew it wouldn't be for long. There was a brown blazer on a coat rack so I grabbed it and pulled it on. The sleeves were a bit big for me, but the jacket covered enough of me to retain some kind of dignity…not that I would have it for long.

I opened the door gently and poked my head out. The nameplate on the door confirmed my hunch that this was one of the hospital's lawyers. At one end of the hallway I could see the edge of a secretary's desk and people milling around it. That's where I could hear someone explaining a "sick bird" to someone else. At the other end there was a door marked by an exit sign. I left the room as discreetly as possible and closed the door behind me. Then I made a run for the exit.

"Excuse me? Hey, what are you doing?"

I didn't stop to explain. Instead I pulled the coat over my head and slammed through the exit into the stairwell. I ran down the stairs. The air in the stairwell was cool against my naked legs and the stares felt uncomfortably dirty beneath my feet.

The door flung open as I cleared the stairs.

"Get back here." Someone shouted.

I could hear them pounding down the stairs after me. I ran down another flight and then yanked open the door into a carpeted hall. There was a woman in a skirt and blouse standing outside of an office. She turned my way and her mouth dropped.

"Excuse me!" I said, running past her. I rounded the corner as the door opened behind me.

"Stop him! Stop that boy!"

A woman was waiting by an elevator with a toddler in a stroller I stopped in front of it and began hitting the down button frantically.

"What the-"

"Mommy, he's not wearing pants and shoes."

My legs may have turned the same shade of red as my face did. I didn't know, because as I was hitting the elevator button, I was keeping my eyes in front and focused on the doors.

"There he is."

The woman I passed was standing at the corner and pointed me out to the man who was chasing me. The elevator pinged and the doors opened to a woman in blue hospital scrubs that stared at me with the same look of confusion and shock as the others.

The man grabbed me. "All right, kid, lets go back up stairs and-"

_I wonder what the pudding in this hospital's psych ward is like?_ I wondered.

That's about the time when one of my brilliant ideas came to me. I quickly threw my hands up, hitting the man's chin and jumped into the elevator screaming.

"Unclean! Unclean! I'm unclean! Get away from me!"

The kid in the stroller cried and the mother pulled the stroller back and got between her child and the psychopath. The woman in the scrubs bolted from the elevator as I flailed about, careful to keep the coat over my head.

"Unclean! Don't look at me! AHHHHH!"

The elevator doors slid shut and I was alone. I took a deep breath and hit a random floor. I thought of morphing frog and trying to hop my way past security, but nine times out of there were cameras in the elevator. So I just kept my head covered and waited.

When the door popped open again I ran out, continuing to shout.

"Unclean! Unclean! I'm filthy! Don't touch me!"

Doctors, patients and most of the sane people cut me a wide berth. A security guard emerged from behind a desk and tried to confront me but I ducked down another hall and kept shouting.

"Unclean!" A nurse dropped a cup of coffee and screamed. I paused only to look at the coffee and pointed an accusing finger at her. "Unclean drink! You're an unclean person!"

"Get back here!" The security guard called as I ran.

The smell of coffee was coming from a staff break room. I ran inside and slammed the door behind me. The room was carpeted and there were old couches, a mounted TV, and a coffee table covered with magazines. The coffee machine was on the counter beside a sink and at the back of the room was a tiny bathroom. I ran inside and locked the door.

_This is the second bathroom I've been trapped in today_, I realized.

I sank onto the toilet, wondering what to do. There was no window in here. And there was a small space between the toilet and sink. The staff room filled with people wondering out loud whom the freak in the lawyer's coat was. The security officers were calling someone with a master key to unlock the bathroom and someone was organizing a team of orderlies to take me down with a needle and a stretcher. Terrific.

_Frog might be the only way to go,_ I thought. I could hide in the toilet, but then someone might try to flush me just to be a prick. Also, if I was worried about the Yeerks getting wind of Bryce, I was certainly worried about them hearing of a seagull that was replaced by a screaming kid, who was then replaced by a frog in an equally unlikely way.

I remembered what Bryce was telling me about the dog morphs. About using them irresponsibly and the consequences it could bring. The consequences of this day were beginning to crash down on me like a mudslide.

Pretty soon I would be in hospital custody. If I couldn't find a way out of that, the police would probably get involved. My dad would be called. At the end of this day, there was a good chance that I would a slave to a Yeerk. On the upside, I would more than likely find out what killed the Yeerk in Bryce's head, because soon the Yeerks working for my Dad would know about the Chee. Oh, and Kullan would probably drop my Dad all together in favor of a host that could morph.

Where did I screw up, you ask? What action led me to this moment? I really don't know. It's time like these I realize how stupid I can be. How it's so easy to see the million and one ways a decision can take me, but because life isn't full of guarantees I don't bother planning before I pick a direction. This wasn't the first time I had run headlong into a wall. And it was starting to look like it would be the last.

"Kid, we're bringing someone up here to open the door." A man said. "If you're not out of here by then, things will get worse for you."

I rested my head in my hands. All I could see were walls now. Every choice I made from here on out…there was nothing. Then I saw a centipede…it came from a crack in the wall around the sink pipes. It paused in the shade of the toilet and I could see it's little front antennae waving around.

_Why hello, Luck,_ I thought, slowly reaching down. _I like your new dress._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight - Bryce

"A Chee must never cause harm."

"A Chee must never cause harm," I heard myself repeat.

A spray of salty air brushed the black beige fur of Sanje's head. Like all Pemalite automate-engineers, Sanje wore a lightly colored tunic with gold lining along the seams. Over his right breast was a shiny red rock carved in the shape of an Ojia, one of the most common flowers on the planet.

"Why is that?" Sanje asked.

I stared at him. A quizzical nature might have decorated my projection, had I been able to project an image at the time. As is, I was unaware of the concept of being puzzled. Yet the question was puzzling to me.

"Why is that?" I echoed the words.

Sanje chuckled. His command had been to repeat his words and I followed it precisely

"Extrapolate and respond to this question," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Why must a Chee never cause harm?"

I paused. Synapses fired internally and numerous lines of coding erupted across my internal processor, as if a match had been lit and now several unique lines of gunpowder were burning down to form a conclusion. At this time, I was too new to be connected to the Cheenet, so I could not look to my brothers and sisters for answers.

Finally, I arrived at a conclusion that would satisfy my master.

"You have told me not to kill," I said. "Because you have also told me to do as you command, I have been commanded not to kill and therefore I must not kill."

Sanje turned to the sea and sighed. It wasn't frustration. He was thoughtful and patient as he took a deep breath of the air. Another breeze danced across his fur, and I remember focusing on him, trying to capture this image of him.

Then, something happened. Something I had not experienced yet. As I watched my master contemplate the seas, his gaze deep and filled with thought, I began to wonder why he would ask me such a thing. Though I had given him an answer as he requested, it seemed to me as though it were not the answer he sought after.

Something inside compelled me to learn why.

"Why don't you want me to kill?" I asked.

Sanje turned to look at me. He seemed startled at first and then a smile appeared on his face. Smiles were positive things I had been taught.

"You are seeking to understand," he said. Pride…I had seen this emotion before. When Sanje was teaching one of the pups how to walk upright, he felt pride as she began to run circles around him. "Consider the flying mibet."

Mibets were a four winged insect found on the continent Sotora.

"Mibets are beautiful?" I asked. Sanje and his pups showed me many things that they considered beautiful. Mibets with light blue wings were among the most beautiful things in the opinion of many of the pups.

Sanje nodded. "They are beautiful because they are alive. They are beautiful because they enrich our world. They carry seeds from flower to flower and they create new life. To harm the mibet is to harm all of the flowers that benefit from their very short life spans. To interrupt the lifespan of even one creature causes harm to all others and eventually, to ourselves."

"Harm only leads to harm," I realized.

"That is correct."

I processed this information. Internally, I vowed that I would never cause harm to a living being. Then the Howlers came and Sanje made me promise not to harm them, even to protect the Pemalites. All of our masters made us promise not to break the most basic of the Chee programming.

And until this day, no Chee had ever caused harm.

I caused harm.

_You did not know._ My father repeated himself.

But I caused harm.

_There was something wrong with that Yeerk,_ My mother chimed in. _We didn't know either. It could not have been avoided._

Inadvertently harming a living thing is still causing harm. Harm causes more harm The Yeerk died. More Yeerks that came from it will never be. No new life will come because of the harm I have done.

Though I did not directly respond to anyone, nor were my thoughts processed through the Net, the Chee could still read me. They ran my projection system. It was the other Chee who created false readings on the machines that were now attached to me. They created a convincing simulation to make the nurse believe that the needle from the IV bag had gone in and that I was now receiving nourishment. They even over road my chemical processors so that I would appear to urinate into the catheter bag.

I was aware of all of this, yet I would not move. Every second I was here put the Chee in greater danger. But simply could not move without figuring this out. Without processing these events.

A Chee must never cause harm. But…what if a Chee did cause harm? No direct consequence has ever been programmed into us, nor has there ever been an instance where a Chee violated this programming.

_Our masters are gone now,_ Bryce, the desperate plea of Erek came clear across the Net. _They wouldn't have imagined this situation. But technically, you did not violate your programming._

Then who did? It was my body that nourished the Yeerk. It was my chemical processors that fed it the nutrients it would get in the pool and it was my generator that created Kandrona.

_The Kandrona is the problem,_ another Chee chimed in. _We only know of the concentration that feeds the majority of the Yeerks. But the Yeerks under Kullan's command clearly have an adverse reaction to what should be normal for them. Therefore it is Kullan 926 who has killed your Yeerk, by giving them something else. We must find out what it is._

_He is choosing not to respond,_ Dad said. _Bryce, I will be at the hospital shortly. We can't keep this charade up much longer. If you see Sean again, let him know what we have discussed._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Eight – Sean

It was not always going to be that easy. The morph was a little faster, if a hundred times weirder than usual. But I was under pressure and by the time someone finally got the door opened, they would have been surprised to find the coat lying haphazardly on the floor.

And I was foolishly worried about the frog morph.

_Stop thinking and get to Bryce,_ I thought. _Act now, consequences later._

The centipede's vision was pretty much crap. My human mind remembered being underneath the coat and I sort of knew where the toilet was. It was in the opposite direction of all of the footsteps and the loud speech, which freaked the centipede out something fierce.

Noise! Loud Noise! Run! Its instincts cried. Then someone lifted the coat and the light poured down on me like a wall of blinding pain. Light!

I bolted for the shade of the toilet. The millions of feet at my side told me all I needed to know. I could feel the crevices and the uneven surface of the linoleum floor. As I neared the toilet, the feet on my right sensed the cool, smooth surface, which was much nicer to my senses.

"Where is he?"

Unlike the frog, I couldn't really hear anyone speaking. But the voices were softer vibrations that I could recognize.

"I don't know. There's a bug in here though."

"I know there was another one in the lounge. Someone must have stepped on it."

Pause. I rested under what I guess was a valve and tried to think of how the other centipede got in. I didn't exactly see it enter and if it came in from the lounge, then screw that because the sound of footsteps wasn't going away.

"Could it be…one of the Andalites?"

That didn't raise my hopes any.

"No, it was a human being. Remember, only the Andalites have morphing power."

I felt my way along the metal pipe. It was a bit cooler to the touch than the toilet and I knew it would go straight into the wall. As I felt along the wall for a crack, or an opening, there were more voices in the lounge.

"We should still tell Visser Six." Somehow I knew my dad would get brought into this.

At the end of the pipe, I sensed an opening in the wall and felt the space with my feelers. It was probably the size of a penny, but the centipede was only wondering why I was hesitating. The space beyond was dark, damp and cool. And the best part was, it was away from the large moving things that were in the bathroom and the room beyond.

There was a slightly disturbing sensation as I squeezed between the pipe and the drywall. But once I was inside the dark, moist area, the centipede's instincts calmed down. There were still vibrations. As a I picked a direction and started crawling, they came from all over the space.

"-need an IV on-"

"Can you change Misses-"

"-I'm taking my lunch now-"

"Clear!"

There were sounds of machines working, water running through the pipes. People doing all sorts of things involving water, but for the sake of what's left of my sanity I can pretend the centipede's senses weren't so strong.

I tried to listen for signs of where Bryce had been taken. If he was in the emergency room I'd basically be screwed, since there'd be way too many people and by now everyone was on the look out for me.

Frick.

The centipede had it easy. Moving up, down, over pipes and squeezing between spaces. If I hit a wall that didn't go anywhere, I could do a complete turn and move on.

Seriously, stand up and turn around. Turn around again. Do it ten times. I guarantee you, no matter how dizzy you make yourself, the centipede has done about a hundred more turns than you in the same amount of time.

With it's flexibility and the way the tiny little legs propell it, the only thing it has to worry about is someone stepping on it. If the Yeerks do manage to take over the planet, the centipede will be munching on cockroaches and other small pests and will only need to watch out for...well, I guess Taxxons would be an issue. They might not feel the kinship for their lower myriapod (that's right, centipeds are myriapods) brethren that the alien in Men in Black had for cockroaches and flies.

There was a light further down. The space beyond it seemed quiet. I forced the centipede towards it. With cautious twich of the feelers, there was a vast space beneath me. There was a loud machine working and there was a sensation of warmth, like the inside of an oven.

Since I doubted the wall was a part of the oven, I moved as quickly as cautiously as I could down to the floor. There were no people inside, from what I could tell. This could be a furnace room, or an incinerator. From the vibrations against the wall, my third guess was a laundry room. That meant I could possibly find some clean clothes, scrubs or a hospital gown, to cover up with.

When I was on what felt like a level surface I started to demorph. And as my full weight began to make the table rock, I fell on my back onto a pile of laundry bags. Well, if there could be one positive consequence to acting without thinking, I was glad it could be this one.

"There you are."

And there was the bad one again.


	10. Chapter 10

"It's okay." She said.

She was dressed in hospital scrubs. Tall, with black hair and a tan complexion, I vaguely recognized her from above the ground, when I was searching for a way into the hospital. She had some clothes and a pair of shoes in one arm.

"Are you a..." I paused, trying to find the right way to ask an awkward question. "Frick, who are you?"

"I'm Kerry," she said with a giggle. "I'm a Chee. And I was listening to you through the Network and hearing about your antics in the hospital."

"Oh good." I righted got back on my feet and quickly accepted the pants and shirt. "Then they're looking for me now?"

"Security and a few nurses are on the look out. Bryce wasn't communicating or you would have known to contact me before you're little run."

I pulled the socks and the (very nice) shoes on. If I was going to wind up in the psychiatric ward, at least I would do it in style.

"Where is Bryce right now?" I asked.

"The emergency room," Kerry said. "They're trying to communicate with him, but at the moment he is catatonic. Another Chee has replaced you so you're family won't get suspicious or start to worry. But I really think you need to get as far from this hospital as possible."

I shook my head.

"Not without Bryce."

Kerry frowned. I hated it when they did that.

"You are the priority right now," she said, sternly. "Bryce can pass for a human patient for a time. And we can get to him. But you should know there are Yeerks in this hospital who are very interested in a boy who suddenly replaced a seagull that crashed through someone's window."

Well there was the fly in my ointment. I rubbed my face trying to decide what to do. Bryce wasn't just some alien android who could replace me to my dad while I went to the movies. He was the kid I got my ass kicked for sticking up for. I still feel the pain on my nose from that day and while it didn't lead to the most proactive friendship until after I found out about the morphing power, I don't regret it.

You don't go through hell for someone and then leave them behind when they fall.

"Yeerks," I said. My problems kept falling back to them. "Are they Visser Three's or Visser Six's?"

"None of Visser Three's yeerks have come out this way yet," Kerry said. "Visser Six is doing a great job of staying below the radar and the refugee Andalites are keeping them busy as well. So it's safe to say that all of the yeerks in this are are from Kullan's pools."

"Good for him." I sighed. "Where's Mr. Treet?"

"He's just entered Williamstown, so he'll be here in about ten minutes. He has to show up to the hospital to see Bryce, or child protective services might think that's suspicious."

"Okay," I said, looking Kerry and vicariously the entire Chee network, in the eye. "I will leave here when Mr. Treet gets here. Until then, I'm going to be with Bryce. If I have to do it as a frog for a couple of hours fine, but I think it would be better if you used your high tech projection abilities to keep anyone from seeing me. Yeerk or otherwise."

Kerry frowned and I returned it tit for tat. Billions of years of experience couldn't stand up to my frown. One alien race was all ready costing me my friend and my family. I wasn't about to let another race tell me where I could go and when.

"All right," Kerry said, finally. "The others have come to an agreement. When Mr. Treet gets here, you will see Bryce. But in the meantime, you need to understand just how big this is. Come with me."

Confused, I did as she asked. The laundry room was inside the basement, along with the usual things you'd find in a basement. Boiler room, utility closets and...a false door along the backwall that lead into a large round pool. I'm not an expert but I don't know of many hospitals that keep pools full of slugs in their basement.

I sucked in my breath as I looked around. At one end of the room was a caged in area where a number of people were either resting against the wall or spread out on mats on the floor. They were all sleeping. There were doctor's and nurses mostly, but there was a security guard and a few other people not in any kind of uniform. I didn't know if they were patients or hospital staff, but it didn't seem to matter.

"There's no security in here?" I noticed. My heart skipped a few beats as Kerry slid the door closed.

"I'm using my projector to trick the censors," she said. "There is a yeerk on the security staff who monitors the pool whenever a host comes down for their cycle. Staff can simply take a lunchbreak and some of the rest you see here are volunteer workers who help out on the floor or work in the gift shop."

I took a cautious walk around the pool, to the cage. The cage seemed standard enough and it looked like it could be broken through with enough force.

"Why haven't you tried to release them?"

"There's too many people here. Best case scenario, Visser Six would catch on and realize he was being sabotaged. He might kill people to route out the infiltrator, or he would think Visser Three was onto him and he might make a desperate move. At the moment these people are alive and we can't do anymore than watch them to be sure they stay that way."

"But you could hide them," I said. "Chee could take their place and the hosts could be hidden underground."

"_You_ don't even want to go into hiding," Kerry pointed out. "What makes you believe they would want to hide, knowing their loved ones were in danger? And what makes you think we can house them at all? We're not omnipotent, whatever you may think. There are limits to our abilities as well."

Thank you Ms. Obvious, I wanted to say.

Instead I looked around some more. There was nothing else in this room besides the pool and the cage.

"Where's the Kandrona?" I asked.

"We were hoping Bryce would figure that out," Kerry said. "But until we can find out what these Yeerks are being fed that killed the one in his head, we can't take a risk with another specimen."

I stared at the Yeerk pool for a very long time. Yeah, at any moment one of these hosts could wake up, or someone could walk in ready to feed but damn it. I needed a plan. For a second, I considered something and dropped to my knees, reaching into the pool. I felt the Yeerks swimming around, bumping into my hand blindly. And for a second I considered grabbing one.

"What are you doing?" Kerry asked, nervously.

"Nothing," I said, honestly. "Not yet anyway. This isn't the place to do it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I need a Yeerk morph," I said. "But not one of these. You're right, if we cause crap here Kullan could get nervous. And I want him nervous, but I want him to feel it closer to home."

I pulled my hands out and took a glance at the cage. It would be so easy to break it down if I had a larger morph. Something that could break through weak metal with a few well placed impacts. Suddenly, I knew what I wanted to do.

"Sestran is Kullan's sub-visser," I thought outloud. "I know he is in charge of some of the churches that house Yeerk pools. But he's not always at the same one each time. I need his host body and more to the point, I want him."

I looked at Kerry once more.

"If you guys think I'm important to this fight, then listen. Find out what his schedule is like so that I don't draw attention from Kullan by rifling through dad's files. It's time for me to stop stumbling around ass backwards. It's time for me to plan this out to the letter."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven - Bryce

"Chee-Ikos, bring this to that table." Sanje placed a box containing many small pieces in my arms. These pieces would assemble to become a greater construction that only Sanje knew about.

The sea air was calm against my newly developed processors and I could feel genuine contentment as I followed my master's instructions. I placed the box gently on the small round table. But as I moved, to return to my master's side, I brushed the top of the box slightly. It was enough to send the entire box to the ground.

SMASH! Pieces scattered everywhere.

"No!" I cried.

Sanje rushed to my side.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I did as you asked, and then..." I looked from the table to the pieces on the floor. A strange feeling welled up inside of me. Sadness... and then...I raised my arm and made a fist, slamming it into the table.

Sanje wasn't angry. But he frowned as he looked from me the damage in the table.

"That was only an accident, Ikos," he said, speaking in a tone I had heard him use many times with the pups. "Now you must pick up the pieces. But there is no need to be violent."

Violent...a Chee must not harm a living being. But the table wasn't alive.

"I defied your orders." I said. "You gave me a command and I failed."

"Anyone can make a mistake, Chee-Ikos," Sanje placed a hand on my arm. "Please, Ikos, pick up the pieces. You are forgiven."

I did as I was asked. A day later, another Pemalite named Arien arrived and examined me. When he was finished with me, he examined the damage I had done.

"Am I in trouble." I asked.

"Of course not," Sanje said, softly.

Arien smiled to assure me that there was nothing wrong. But I sensed something beneath his face as he and Sanje went outside. I was told to wait, but I could hear their conversation from the edge of the ocean where they strolled.

"There is a flaw in the programming of the Anjue models," Arien said. "They take orders literally and have difficulty improvising. There are reports of other Chee making mistakes and growing frustrated, or angry. Ikos is not the only one."

"But I am making such progress with Ikos." Sanje protested. "He is able to understand things if I explain them to him. Certainly there are Pemalites who take a longer time than others to learn. Can't we give our androids a similar allowance to grow?"

"It's not a question of allowance, Sanje. The Chee are built to be nearly invincible. Suppose that table had been a living thing? I'm afraid the only course of action is to deactivate them until we can work out a way to correct this programming without destroying the current state of their souls."

Sometime later, Sanje approached me. I was sure he would deactivate me now. On the network I was all ready hearing the silenced farewells of many of my brothers and sisters.

"Are you going to deactivate me now, master?" There was acceptance in my voice, but I also felt sadness. It wasn't the sadness that led to my hurting the table. I knew that was wrong now.

Sanje smiled.

"Of course not," he said. "We created you to be our friends, not our servants. And a friend helps another friend, no matter what he has done."

Billions of years later, I was looking up at my friend. Sean. Though Chee-Enry stood guard to be sure that no one caught him, after what he had done just to get to me.

"I'm sorry, Bryce." He said. "I should never have used the dog morph that way. That must have stressed you out so badly."

"No." I said.

Sean's eyes widened. There was a sleu of response from the Chee Net, including a message from my dad.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Do you want some water?"

Sean went to get water, only to stop and turn to me with an awkward expression.

"Er, you probably don't need water."

"Not especially, no."

I glanced at the machines that were monitoring my vitals and took over for whoever was manufacturing them. Getting out of the hospital would be my responsibility now. Sean sat back down on the stool and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Well, you probably know about the Yeerk pool here," he said.

"Yes." I nodded. "There's one here and in the hospital up in Burlington."

Sean shook his head.

"Visser Six has been moving fast." He said. "I had no idea and he was right under my nose."

"We didn't either," I reminded him. "I could have learned so much more by now. So, I'd apologize for that, but I've heard enough of how it isn't my fault."

Sean chuckled.

"Listen, I've been thinking."

"A first for you."

"Yeah, right. Do you remember the class field trip to the Rutland fair grounds?"

I nodded.

"Do you remember where that one exhibit with the rodeo clowns came from?"

I pulled up the exact memory of those times. I saw the animal in my head and I rolled my eyes.

"You're planning on getting firepower," I said.

Sean grinned.

It should have been against my programming. Helping Sean aquire a dangerous animal that could hurt other people. But something was different. A routine that Sanje had programmed into me, to keep the others from shutting me down.

"It's actually not far from Bennington," I said. "My dad can drive you there."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve - Sean

"Sean, it's time to go." Kerry said.

I was about to protest when Bryce touched my arm.

"Listen to her," he said. "Get out of here."

Despite his tone, I wanted to stay put. But as Kerry was rather insistantly pulling me from Bryce's bedside, I saw a doctor enter the little space and pull the curtains.

"Hang on." I tried to stand my ground, but it's a little hard to do that when your nurse is one of the people who built the pyramids and still felt like dancing later that night.

"That doctor is one of them," Kerry whispered in my ear. "He's in charge of the pool in this hospital."

That shut me up pretty quickly. She took me to an elevator just outside the ER. While we waited for the doors to open, I saw out of a window that overlooked the ground and I happened to catch a glimpse of a very familiar truck.

"That's the one that..." I paused as the elevator doors opened and an orderly stepped out. Kerry saw what I was looking at and nodded.

"That's why I need to get you out of here."

As we got on the elevator I saw the button that would take us down to the basement and thought back to that day at the church. Certainly, it could have been a similar truck. Maybe it was the uniform company that the hospital subcontracted. Or it could have been carrying janitorial supplies.

One thing I knew, they didn't need the truck to bring human hosts to the yeerk pool. I sighed.

So much for planning things out.

"I need to go back down there." I said. My voice was neutral, but Kerry must have sensed I was up to something.

"No," she said, firmly. "I'm bringing you to the cafeteria and you're going to sit tight there until Mister Treet arrives."

I looked up at the numbers as they lit up, one by one, chronicling our descent. Then I looked back at the buttons. She had a firm hold on my right arm, but my left could still reach the emergency stop.

"Was I asking your permission?" I said, fixing her with a sidelong glance. Until I met her, I didn't think the Chee could do harm with a look.

"You're putting too much at risk. Why do you insist on-"

I reached for the button, but didn't push it. When I spoke, my voice was as firm as hers, but strong enough so that she and the rest of the Chee would know I was serious.

"I'm going to put even more than that at risk. If you don't take me down to the basement right now and let me go, I'm going to hit this button. When security gets here I am going to jabber away about everything I know until I get their attention. And I do mean everything."

Kerry gave me a long look. She then reached for my left arm and pulled it up, gently twisting it behind my back. Not hurting me, but not letting me move either.

"That won't stop me Kerry," I promised her, raising my voice just loudly enough that anyone on the floor could proabably hear me as the elevator past them. "I can still talk. What's the plan here? Kidnap me and tie me up in the underground park until I cooperate? I could morph right now and easily get away from you."

"I kept an elephant from falling off a cliff once," Kerry said. "And you don't have that many morphs."

"In five seconds I'm going to scream."

The elevator stopped. It was just above the basement floor. Kerry let me go as the doors slid open. A woman and two little girls stepped onto the elevator. I stepped off, surprised that Kerry didn't follow me.

"The cafeteria is right down that hall and to your right." She said, as if I had just asked her for directions. "I think you can handle it on your own."

She asked the woman what floor she wanted and a few moments later, I was alone. The door to the stairwell was off to the right and I was free. My enemy was in front of me and my one real bridge was now smoldering behind me. Lovely.

I didn't morph. That was probably my stupidest decision, but I didn't relish the idea of losing another limb to a Hork-Bajir. Also, I made a promise to Bryce that I wouldn't use dog morphs for stupid reasons. And not even a Great Dane had a chance against the seven foot tall love child of Earl Sinclair and Edward Scissorhands.

No, I would be doing this in my very own human form. Why? Because I didn't have a better plan at the time.

Fortunately, someone had propped the door open at the bottom of the stairwell, so I wouldn't have to make a lot of noise pressing the handle down as I pushed the door open.

Creeeak!

So much for that plan.

"Who was that?"

"You and you, go check."

I ducked into a supply closet.

"Hey, who is that?"

I squeezed myself behind the door and waited. Their footsteps were light but audible. There was a slight pressure against the door as controller tried to move it. My body made that impossible and he could tell I was there.

"You shouldn't be down here," he said.

His uncovered arm came around the door first and I saw that he was armed with a dracon beam. I quickly grabbed his wrist and started to acquire him. He seemed startled but quickly went into the trance. I was able to wrestle the dracon beam from his hand and position my hand correctly. Then I grabbed his neck to keep him in the trance.

"What's going on?" The controller on the outside asked. "Murok?"

I guided Murok out of the closet, just barely looking over his shoulder and aiming the weapon around his body.

"What the-" TSSEEWW!

The beam turned the dimly lit corridor red as it knocked the other controller off of his feet. I paused long enough to see that he was still breathing.

"Hurrak!"

"Yes, go out there, but make sure no one sees you. Stun them if they do."

I guided the human towards the Yeerk pool. When I was at the laundry room again, I quickly entered and stunned Murok before diving behind a laundry bin. The doors slammed open and the Hork-Bajir's silhouette appeared against the industrial washers like an old horror movie. I stayed low and tried not to panick as it's giant dinosaur like feet scraped across the floor.

A faint reflection appeared in the window of one of the dryers. As I said, a Hork-Bajir is about seven feet tall, give or take a few inches. With blades on their ankles, elbows and near their wrist, you would think whatever god made them had done enough. But to complete the scare factor, they also added a couple forward raking spikes on the forehead. According to Kullan and the Chee, the Hork-Bajir homeworld was completely taken over by the Yeerks. Most of them are involuntary and this particular Hork-Bajir was controlled by one of the Yeerks who chose to die to create the thousand more that Kullan is using for his personal army.

Without waiting for it to discover me, I jumped out and blasted it, aiming for the chest. Unlike the human controllers though I was very close to this one and the shot left a burn mark that went deep into the flesh. Oh crap, I thought as it cried out and sank to the floor. I had only meant to stun it!

The Hork-Bajir moaned and seethed in pain. I had no idea what their anatomy was like, but I had a feeling that burn wasn't exactly soothing.

Oh crap, I thought, trying not to let it see me. I wasn't trying to hurt it, but I had first hand knowledge of what those wrist blades could do.

There was commotion in the hallway, so I grabbed the Hork-Bajir's dracon beam and stuck it in my pants pocket. Then, as an afterthought, I reached down and acquired the Hork-Bajir. It was barely concious but the trance seemed to knock him out. Maybe it would recover. I wished it the best and went to the door, cautiously peering out towards the pool. Two more humans were watching the hall now armed with rifles of some kind. They looked like the kind wildlife experts used in the wild.

A Yeerk can't infest a dead host.

"Wait until the rest are awake," someone said. "Then we'll rush him."

Not sure how much time I had, I quickly pulled out the other Dracon beam and focused on the Hork-Bajir.

My skin began turning a dark shade of green. As the it grew darker the texture of my hands and arms began to change, becoming thicker and tighter. I felt the changes in my face, similar to when I morphed the dogs. My mouth protruted and my chin disappeared into my neck, which grew larger and longer.

I felt the seams of my clothes getting tighter my shoes growing more uncomfortable as my feet changed. I tried to kick them off, but as my toes merged claws began to sprout and tore through the material.

_That's the third set of shoes in one day,_ I realized. As if that were my biggest concern.

The feet were a bit like the turkey's only much bigger and much greener. I could the last of my hair shrinking up and disappearing. The two forward raking blades sprouted from the base of the skull, where the neck met the head. I reached a longer, thicker arm above my head and brushed the hand (still holding a dracon beam which was now smaller and more toylike in those beefy hands) gently across the blades. No amount of gel would keep those down.

My neck wasn't entirely flexible, but I could move it more than my own. I looked down at my clothes, which were tattered and slumped around my feet. They seemed like doll threads compared to my enormous height and the shoes were dwarfed by the feet.

I expected the Hork-Bajir's instincts to be fierce and dominant. But what surprised me was a mind that felt a bit...well...childish. The small dark space actually bothered the Hork-Bajir. It was a creature used to wide open spaces and fresh air and this place made the alien being sad and strangely afraid.

I looked at the blades and realized I could do some serious damage with these things. That a big creature as heavily armed as the Hork-Bajir could be afraid or uncomfortable was a surprise. But then looks could be decieving. Maybe that's why the Yeerks beat these people. They saw a large walking weapon that was too scared to fight back and won by acting like they were tougher.

With a glance to the still unconscious Hork-Bajir controller, I nodded out of respect from one bullied being to another. Then I made sure I had the right grip on the dracon beams and kicked out the door of the laundry room.


	13. Chapter 13

_Tobias is getting ready to bring Visser Three's truck ship down over the lake._

* * *

><p>TSSSEWW! TSSSSEWWW! Two controllers went down.<p>

I felt like I was in some kind of sci-fi shoot out movie. Me, the alien John Wayne, shooting enemies with a gun in each hand and ducking as they returned fire. The Hork-Bajir instincts may have been uncomfortable in the close quarters, but it had maneuverability.

A controller fired a tranquilizer dart. I side stepped it and fired back, knocking him into the pool. The cage was open and a few of the freed hosts were being led to the pool by another unarmed controller, who was now pushing them back as I advanced.

The sheer terror on the controller's faces was almost worth it. Especially when I remembered that these guys were maybe a few weeks old tops. This situation couldn't have come up in Visser Six's training program.

With the remaining armed controllers down, I approached the one in the cage.

_Get inside and close the door,_ I told her, levelling the beams at her.

"Andalite?" She asked, frightened.

_Yes._

The door squeaked open behind me. I spun around, keeping one dracon beam trained on her and the other on door at the end of the hall. The doctor from the ER and a controller were guiding Bryce into the pool.

"What the hell is going on here?" The doctor demanded. "Jullay 395, have you lost your mind?"

"It's an Andalite!" The controller shouted. "Like the Visser said, they can take the form of other creatures!"

I didn't give anyone a chance to decide what to do. I shot the doctor and the orderly, then the cotnroller in the cage. The freed humans stared blankly, no doubt under the influence of whatever drugs were being used to keep them under.

With me in the way, I didn't think they could see Bryce very clearly. He played the part well, holding his hands up as I kept the weapon trained on him. I looked past him and noticed the dracon beam the other unconcious controller had dropped.

_I'm going to shoot and miss._ I said, careful that only he could hear me. _Turn around, grab the beam and give me twelve seconds._

Bryce nodded. I don't know if he knew the whole plan, but since I was making it up as we went along, I didn't exactly know myself. I "shot" at Bryce, missing his head by inches. He ducked and ran back for the Dracon Beam.

"Andalite Filth!" He screamed.

_Nice one._

I ran towards the Yeerk pool, stunning the controller and the freed humans before leaping across the pool and slamming the cage shut. Then I examined the dracon beams and found a dial marked with alien characters. I carefully adjusted them to what looked like the highest setting and aimed them into the pool. If I was right, there'd be Yeerk soup for dinner. If I was wrong, Bryce would look like the one hero in a room full of idiots who just got taken out by a single Andalite.

Thank God I was right.

The beams sliced into the pool, creating a cloud of steam. I could see the helpless little slugs falling into the beams as they created whirlpool effect in the water. It was like watching a bug zapper in action, only a part of me felt slightly guilty for the Yeerks.

_Don't think about it,_ I told myself.

The beams eventually cut into the bottom of the pool, creating a hole deep in the ground. I stopped firing and watched as the rest of the liquid and the Yeerks drained into the scorched Earth, causing a hissing sound, like pouring hot spaghetti into a trainer.

Bryce came back in and didn't let up. He fired once, "missing" and I dropped the Dracon beam and ran past him, "knocking" him to the ground and escaping through the fire exit.

* * *

><p>I got back to the cabin and switched places with the Chee without anyone being the wiser. In my suitcase containing all of my clothes, was a note.<p>

_We can no longer help you._

Terrific. I tossed it into the fire that night, when we were making smores and telling stories. I only wished I could tell them the horror story I was living through right now.

Dad wasn't home when Aunt Sara dropped me off the next day. I quickly made some dinner and watched the news. A news crew had gone to the hospital in North Adams and was covering gas leak in the basement, which led to only three fatalities. No mention of an alien body, of course. Visser Six had to be working overtime to cover up the incident and use dad's access to the local media to spin the story so he wouldn't be exposed to Visser Three.

When I called Bryce's home all I got was Mr. Treet. He wasn't angry and he didn't yell. He spoke to me in the firm, neutral tone that Dad often used when I had done something to disappoint him. It was the tone that all parents used and one that kids hated the world over.

"You don't get to manipulate us. I can't stop the others from helping you, Bryce least of all. But myself and others refuse to assist you any further."

When he hung up, I wish I could say I felt bad. I didn't. Sure, threatening the Chee wasn't the best way to handle the situation. But the end result was the Yeerks being mildly inconvenienced at the very least and at the worse, slowed down Kullan enough to keep him from attracting Visser Three. If the Chee hadn't told me about the Yeerk Pool, that would never have happened, so I can't be blamed for taking the next step, however insane it was.

Oh well. I wrote Dad a note and took to the sky in seagull morph. I still had my next big plan and with or without their help, I was going to find Sestran.

The ranch wasn't far. It mostly trained prize horses for shows and for sale to high end customers. PETA was trying like hell to shut it down, but in the meantime, it had what I needed. As I landed and demorphed, this time with the wetsuit, I looked around. There were two large barns. One was where the stables for the horses were kept and the other was where a large, beefy rodeo bull was sleeping peacefully.

I quietly went into the barn and looked at the animal. The name on the fence said "Bessie's Daddy". And the blue ribbon tacked to one banister declared it the winner at some big county fare. It's strong legs had thrown many riders from it's wide back during the various rodeos it had been brought to. But it was the long sharp horns that really had my attention.

The Hork-Bajir morph would be great for infiltration. I could keep my human nature a disguise in Yeerk heavy areas. But I needed a genuine battlemorph.


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Bryce**

"So your body had a bad reaction to an onion ring?" Kullan asked, with a bemused smirk. He never raised his voice. That was the worse thing.

We were in an office in a house in the mountains belonging to one of his high ranking controllers. The nearest neighbors were a mile down an unpaved road.

Goresh 506, whose host was the doctor that signed my discharge paper, stood beside me trying to keep from trembling. My projector kept my holographic image from appearing to be afraid. But inside I was nervous. It was strange that a helpless slug could have frightened me this much.

"That's right, Visser," I said. "My host was allergic to something in the food hence why I wound up in the hospital. Sub-Visser Five tried to take me to the Yeerk Pool when we discovered the Andalite had all but decimated the hospital's yeerk pool.

Kullan regarded us both carefully, before going back to his desk. He picked up a few sheets of paper and began reading them.

"Missing persons statistics," he said, casually. "It's amazing. There's one in here about a boy who disappeared thirty years ago. They still haven't found him and no one was suspected of causing it."

He looked at me thoughtfully before sitting down in the chair and continuing in the same tone.

"The hospital was a failure doomed to happen. No security measures, no recording equipment, least of all in what should have been the most secure aspect of that area. As such we have lost a hospital, which was a font of wealthy and influential hosts. I wonder why an Andalite had practically no problem wandering in there and just taking his time killing valuable Yeerks and strolling from the scene without so much as a Dracon burn for his trouble."

"Visser please, I-" Sub visser Five didn't have a chance to finish.

A dracon beam lanced across the room covering his body in bright light. His screams as he broke down slowly from the atomic level, were no doubt heard by the rest of the house. They would be embedded in my memory banks forever.

When the yeerk and the host were fully disintegrated, Kullan turned to me. The Dracon didn't smoke like an Earth gun, but I could still see the shimmering of air particles from where the beam had fired.

"A pity we couldn't save the host." He said. "But I can't be known for showing mercy for failures as monumental as this one."

"Yes Visser," I said, showing no emotion. "I am ready to accept my punishment."

"The hospital was not your mess to clean up." Kullan placed the Dracon back in his desk drawer. "An allergic reaction was hardly your fault and you managed to salvage some of the situation by keeping the [i]Andalite[/i] from freeing the hosts."

The way he said Andalite caught my attention.

Kullan leaned forward and motioned me to take the chair in front of the desk.

"Fortunately our one Hork-Bajir host managed to survive. The Yeerk swears he saw something of particular interest during this...attack."

I feigned ignorance. "Oh?"

"Yes." Kullan smiled. "You have become quite useful to me in a short amount of time, Esdrax. Continue this trend and you will fare well in my new empire. Fail me as Goresh did and you will wish I was as generous to you."

"I understand. What are your orders Visser?"

"Like before, I want you to follow my host's son very closely. Keep me informed of his every movement and be certain to let me know the instant anything unusual occurs."


End file.
